Ages ago, humanity left Earth for the stars. Eventually, they found a paradise: Eden. And on that paradise were the Juins. In time, the colonization of Eden by humanity lead to a war between humans a Juins. In the end, the Juins lost. Hundreds of years later, Juins are secluded on their own continent and humans make up the majority of Eden's population. But over the past few years, strange occurrences were noticed all over the world. People were seen flying in the skies.

Fights took place between people that could bring down buildings. And at the center of it all is a small number of men and women with amazing abilities. Some of these people want to lead normal lives, and some plot to use the strife to wreck havoc on the world. These people are brought together by circumstance, and those virtuous enough band together, because whether they like it or not, they're Forced Heroes.

This page contains miscellaneous documentation that isn't necessary for new members to read. It's recommended that you give it a lookthrough if you plan on playing a Pamyati or Arcuul, but otherwise, you can safely ignore it.

The Legend

IN ANCIENT TIMES...

... there was no difference between the Pamyati and the Arcuul.
They were one race, with each half of them representing the duality of the God and the Goddess.
With the Advent of the Juin race, there came disparity.

Those who would become the Arcuul saw the young species as a blessing.
They deemed it only right that they nurture and protect these children of their world.

Those who would become the Pamyati saw the young species as a threat.
They held their sacred places from them, refused to tolerate the young Juin,
and attacked any who neared their temples to kill them or drive them off.

In time, this disparity of views snapped the Ancients in two.
They went to war.
the people born of the God aspect sought to protect the way of life they had before,
and defend their sacred places.
They attempted to destroy the Juin, and any who stood with them,
but their violence only galvanized the bond of their other half and the Juin.

They could not stand against them,
for they faced the combined strength of the Juin and the Goddess aspect,
their equal opposite.
They begged the ancient Powers, the Primals, for help... but were refused.
The Primals had power, it was true,
but their purpose was to hold the world in balance with the spirit world,
and could not help the God Aspect People.

Infuriated, and suffering greater losses every day,
the God Aspect's greatest mages sought a power
one that would let them defend their world,
slaughter the usurpers, and bring the wayward goddess aspect under heel.

They found it in their own nature - they were the living manifestations of the Masculine Divine,
the God. They sought to make themselves into greater weapons, greater
manifestations of what they already were.
They sought to imbue their race with greater divine power from the Sun...

...and the ancients were punished.

Oh, they got the power they sought... all the power they could ever have wanted.
But the divine curse that was levied upon the ancients that day made them into beasts.
The God aspect people were punished most heavily, for it was their abominable deeds,
their hatred, their anger that had seen the curse come to fruition.

The Pamyati recieved the Paternus curse - the curse of the Father.
While they received immense power, they became monsters - the creatures we know today.
All but the Magi of their kind lost their minds, and became savage creatures, no more than beasts.

In that same Judgement, the Arcuul became more like man, more like the Juins they had protected.
Now, the original appearance of the Ancients is long forgotten.

I too bear this curse, and have made it my life's work to understand its significance.

--Naylor, Scholar of the Paternus Curse

Today, the echoes of that day can still be observed. Like the Arcuul, the Pamyati born since
who yet retain the gift of magic could still interbreed with any other species, as the Arcuul do, and the instances of such unions are more common than previously thought. The genetics of the Arcuul are simpler - one born of a union of an Arcuul and any other race will always be Arcuul.

The Pamyati's genetics are less straightforward. Some born to such a union are Pamyati, but this is surprisingly the exception. More often, the resultant child is a perfect cross - a halfbreed, taking on aspects of their own born Solar Aupsice's appearance, and that of their non-Pamyati parent. A few generations separated from that first union, and all obvious traces of the Pamyati heritage become obscured.

But all descendants bear the sleeping Paternus curse, usually never to awaken or see the light of day. As such, more people than we could possibly have imagined bear it.

What does this mean? For most people, nothing. But sometimes, people have a magical talent, and it awakens in them with often outlandish results. The curse, at this point, is no danger - it simply manifests as part of that magical talent, sometimes changing the person's appearance in little ways. Maybe their eye color or hair color changes? Maybe their magical affinities are modified by their solar auspice? Maybe they gain unusual talents or abilities outside what is normal?

But the curse can awaken another way. Put a person with the sleeping curse in a life threatening scenario, or one where they are under life-altering stresses. The curse can awaken in this situation - and grant the accursed fearsome. outlandish powers. What exactly depends upon their Solar Auspice, but also upon themselves. Again - this is no danger in and of itself.

The danger in the curse comes when a person with the awakened curse depends upon it, grasps at it and delves deeper into its powers and relies upon it to survive, to function. The power it grants is euphoric - it feels good to use the curse's powers... and dependance can occur. IF this goes farther, the curse will progress. The person will get stronger - there is no dispute on that score. The problem is, that for the one whose curse awoke in stress or time of need, the one who has no magic to protect their mind, they begin to lose themselves.

Early on, it is like being drunk. As it progresses, intelligence wanes, and does not return. Memories fade, and eventually... all that remains is the curse, and the person becomes a Pamyati themselves, and a creature known as a Lycos is born. For obvious reasons, Lycos are rare and nearly unheard of in this day and age.

A mage whose addiction to the curse progresses to that point does not lose their mind, but they too become Lycos, often with the ability to take a more humanoid form close to their original by their will and power.